Teenagers among five arrested over violent disorder outside Kirkby hotel

They have been bailed and will appear at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Thursday July 27.

Five people have been charged with violent disorder outside a hotel in Kirkby housing asylum seekers, Merseyside Police have said.

Three teenage boys were among those arrested on Thursday after warrants were executed as part of an investigation into the disorder in Knowsley in February.

A police van was set on fire and missiles were thrown at officers after an initially peaceful protest turned violent at the Suites Hotel on Ribblers Lane.

Daniel Fulham, 38, of Old Rough Lane, Northwood Kirkby, and Brian McPadden, 60, of Britonside Avenue, Southdene, were charged alongside the three teenagers from Kirkby, aged 16, 17 and 13.

They have been bailed and will appear at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Thursday July 27.

Fifteen people from the Knowsley area were arrested at the time of the protest which police said left an officer and two members of the public with slight injuries.

Lit fireworks were thrown at officers and a police van was attacked by protesters using hammers and then set alight, the spokesman said.

Asylum seeker Ahmed, who did not want to give his second name, said at the time, he had watched the protest from the window of the hotel.

The teacher, from Egypt, said: “I was afraid. We came to the UK for safety.”

Alan Marsden, 59, from Stockbridge Village, told the PA news agency he attended the protest after seeing the allegations “on TikTok and online” but left when it became clear it was not peaceful.

He said: “It was bad. Kids with masks and balaclavas on turned up. There were 300 or 400 people there.

“It was mostly women and children until all the hooligans turned up.”